Researcher - Work-related Suicide and Social Justice

Contract: 3 year FTC

About the role

At Healing Justice Ldn we are cultivating and growing our research culture. The research we do is non-extractive and generative, centres lived and learnt experience, and evidences current conditions while opening space to imagine life-affirming systems and worlds.

We are seeking to recruit an experienced, motivated and enthusiastic Researcher to join a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award research project “Work-related suicide. An International Social Justice Analysis” (on which our Head of Research, Dr China Mills, is a co-investigator) for a duration of 36 months full-time.

We invite applications from researchers who are highly experienced in qualitative research, ideally in sensitive research areas. There is scope for hybrid working and we are open to discussing flexible working arrangements.

Overview of the role

We are looking for a Researcher to join an international and cross-disciplinary research team undertaking a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award project entitled “Work-related suicide. An international social justice analysis”. We are looking for a researcher with a strong background in qualitative research methods, ideally in a sensitive or trauma-informed area of research.

You will join our project full-time for a period of 36 months and will work closely with the research team including Lead Applicant Prof Sarah Waters, and Co-Applicants Dr China Mills (Healing Justice London), Dr Loïc Lerouge (CNRS Bordeaux) and Prof Steven Bittle (University of Ottawa), two other researchers and a project coordinator.

This research project aims to deepen understanding of the causes and contexts of work-related suicide across three national contexts: UK, France and Canada. It is underpinned by a social justice perspective that is concerned with issues of justice, recognition, equity, accountability and prevention both for people experiencing suicidality and bereaved families.

You will help to undertake and deliver a programme of qualitative research, including identification of cases, interviews, research analysis, document analysis, data analysis and you will contribute more widely to research activities and outputs including publications, reports, conferences, including web-based publications and social media outputs. You will be expected to undertake some travel to carry out interviews, attend international conferences or research team meetings. This is an impact-based project and we are seeking to use our research findings to support policy change in order to improve lived experiences.

This position offers an exceptional opportunity to collaborate with an interdisciplinary and cross-national team of researchers, gain hands-on experience with cutting-edge methodologies, and contribute to impactful research that bridges academic inquiry with real-world policy.

Main duties and responsibilities

You will:

• be involved in carrying out interviews with research participants who have experienced suicidality or suicide bereavement.
• work with the team in analysing qualitative and quantitative data both in the UK and cross-nationally and preparing research articles and policy reports.
• also support our web-based and social media profile and contribute to blogs and digital outputs.
• contribute to interaction with policy-makers and stakeholders nationally and internationally.
• be involved in disseminating research findings in creative, diverse and impactful ways that engage different socio-economic and cultural groups and wide-ranging stakeholder organisations.

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the post.

Qualifications and skills

Essential (these are the skills that you must be able to demonstrate that you have experience of)

• Experience of qualitative and cross-disciplinary research in a sensitive area of research. This may be through a completed PhD but we also value equivalent research experience (you are not required to have a PhD for this role).
• Experience of carrying out interviews with research participants on sensitive subjects.
• Experience of collecting, organising and analysing data.
• Evidence of contribution to research and scholarship through publications or other relevant project experience.
• Capacity to gather and use data for research, analysing it using qualitative methods.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal and the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders;
• Excellent data management and organisational skills.
• Commitment to a positive and supportive research culture and to principles of equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Experience of generating web-based and social media outputs
• Knowledge and experience of data management and GDPR duties.

Desirable (these are the skills that its desirable to be able to demonstrate that you have experience of)

• Lived experience of suicidality through personal, professional experience or experiences of bereavement
• Experience of suicide research
• Experience of research on the workplace or labour studies
• Experience of working with external partners such as policy-makers, trade unions, charities, campaign groups
• Experience of working on cross-national projects

About Healing Justice London

Healing Justice Ldn (HJL) works to build community-led health and healing. Our vision is rooted in access, inclusion and dignity for all, while highlighting the potential for broader social transformation through alternative methodologies and practice. We believe health and wellness should be shaped by the individuals and communities receiving care, and that these communities are best placed to lead innovations at the intersection of health, healing and justice. We also work to name and visibilise how structural and everyday cumulative experiences of marginalisation interact with how people access health. We are working to build an alternative infrastructure of public health that can and should be shaped by all of us.

We work to create resources and capacity with and for communities that have been marginalised and underrepresented within mainstream public institutions. We foreground disability justice, trauma-informed and somatic practices, and co-production. We work with public health bodies, institutions, community organisations, patients and health professionals in order to break new ground in conceptualising and delivering healthcare. We are led by people of colour and lived experience.

Application and interview process

We know that people from certain backgrounds and identities are often excluded in progressive movements and we know that often the deepest analysis comes from lived experience. Therefore we particularly welcome applications from marginalised groups, especially people of colour and other ethnic minorities, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Disabled people, working class folks, and / or those who have been historically excluded.

To apply for this role:

Application is by way of a CV (no longer than 3 pages) and responses to the following questions (answers should be no more than 500 words per question):

1. Tell us about your interest in work-related suicide as a social justice issue.
2. How does this role and research project relate to your experience (Lived and/or learned)?
3. Share an example of your own research/work which makes you proud (for example, reflecting on process and/or impact).

Your CV should include relevant experience (from paid work and/or community work), including details about research experience, outputs (including publications and reports, if relevant), dissemination, and impact.

Our work is rooted in our foundational values of anti-oppression, disability justice, lived experience centred and abolition. We invite anyone who does not have lived experience with systems of oppression to reflect on their suitability for this role before applying, and to address this in the application if they choose to apply (please include this, if relevant to you, as part of your answers to the questions above).

Applications should be sent by email (with ‘HJL Researcher application’ in the subject line) to: Khatija Seedat, Director of Operations, HJL: khatija@healingjusticeldn.org

Your CV & answers to the above questions should be saved in pdf format with your name.

Applicants must have the Right to Work in the UK

Dates:

CLOSING: Applications will close at 23.59 on 19th August 2025.

INTERVIEWS: Interviews for successful applicants will be  held week commencing Monday September 22nd. Interviews will be held over zoom with a panel of 3 people.

If you have questions about this role please contact china@healingjusticeldn.org.

Accessibility: Please let us know if you have any accessibility requirements which we might need to consider in relation to the selection process. Any requests will not affect the decision making itself. Please let us know if you would like to receive this information in a different format.